Katie Hill spent her first days in January as the new exhibit coordinator of Ella Sharp Museum touring collections and taking notes.

But it was pretty clear to Hill that something was missing.

Report on the Web

Jackson Community College is releasing an 80-page report today of the findings of the first African-American Male Summit, which it hosted in May. To view the report, visit www.jccmi.edu/diversity.

"One of the things I immediately noticed was the lack of diversity in our history gallery," Hill said.

Next year, Hill hopes that will change. The museum and Jackson Community College have combined to create an exhibit to showcase the contributions of black residents in Jackson, pieces of which will be integrated into permanent collections.

The partnership is the first of many innovations to come from a frank discussion on the state of black males in Jackson, said Lee Hampton, director of JCC's office of multicultural relations.

The college is releasing an 80-page report today of the findings of the first African-American Male Summit hosted in May by JCC. The report identifies what hinders Jackson's black males in the educational, familial and penal systems and ways the community can help to knock down those barriers.

Among the 100-plus proposals:

• More minority teachers and parental engagement in schools.

• Encourage males to seek out mentors and role models.

• Increase diversity in the jury system.

• Develop neighborhood associations so people feel they have a stake in their community.

In the three months since the summit brought more than 160 community members together, Hampton says he has been inundated with offers to help.

"This is something that's bigger than just a job or an assignment," said Hampton, who organized the summit. "I can see this potentially happening in other communities."

In each section of the report, the number of listed remedies is nearly double the amount of barriers.

"I'm trying to get more of my friends to take a part in it, too, trying to bring knowledge to the streets, the people I hang around," said Thaddaus Williams, a recent JCC graduate who took part in the summit. "I'm just trying to be a leader."

Williams, a Jackson High School graduate, said he has family members in prison and few friends who are attending college. He plans to attend Eastern Michigan University and wants to come back to teach history at Jackson High School, which he said needs more black instructors and role models.

Mentors and positive role models were suggested often in the report to help remedy the plight of black males.

For JCC history instructor Woody Wilson, it was retired professor Rod Riggs who helped him achieve his degree.

"When I wanted to quit school, he'd sit down and he'd talk to me," Wilson said. "He just pointed out things just the way they were in terms of how education can be a very positive factor in the life of a young black man."

But no matter how many people reach out to them, Wilson said, young males must point themselves in a positive direction.

The work does not stop with the report's release, Hampton said. He said he plans to hold meetings with leaders who can take the findings and make a difference  including superintendents, police chiefs, pastors, judges, teachers and legislators.

The Ella Sharp exhibit is slated to run Sept. 19, 2009, through Jan. 2, 2010, and the museum is calling on community members to dig through their attics and photo albums and memories.

Hill said the lack of diversity was not intentional and that the museum has tried to reach out in the past to gather the stories of black residents.

But family history is often in one's mind, she said, and not on paper.

"We're looking for those stories, we're looking for the firsts also  the first African-American who worked at Foote Health, the first African-American police officer," Hill said. "We need to have the full history."